Rules & Terms

Before submitting your film or purchasing any service, please read carefully. All entry fees and payments are not refundable.

1) Eligibility and Rights

• By submitting, you confirm you own the rights to the project, or you have written permission from the rights holder to submit it.
• You always retain 100% of your intellectual property rights.
• Any film not in English must include English subtitles.
• The FilmmakerLife Awards relationship and official communication will be exclusively with the submitter listed on the entry.
• Students must present a valid Student ID to receive any student discount.

2) Submission, Selection, and Judging

• Submissions do not guarantee selection.
• Not all submissions are selected for Official Selection or competition. The Jury makes its own decisions, and we do not provide explanations for projects that are not selected.
• The festival may disqualify any film at any time if there is a question of ownership, copyright infringement, or if the festival considers the content inappropriate.
• The festival may also disqualify a submission if there is any sign of disrespect, in any form of media, toward the festival or its representatives.
• You may submit your project in multiple categories to pursue multiple awards. Selection is strictly determined by the Jury, and no selection is guaranteed.
• Winning categories may vary each month depending on the submissions received and the competitive pool. Categories may be removed or not awarded if the festival determines the overall standard or competitive threshold is not met.

3) Required Materials and Use of Promotional Assets

• By submitting your project, you authorize FilmmakerLife Awards to use and share your film poster, trailer, synopsis, and stills on our website and social media.
• We will not release your full film under any form or circumstances without explicit permission from the rights holder.
• If a project is submitted without key materials such as a poster, trailer, credits, or other requested assets, the Jury may reduce the project’s final rating.

4) Premiere Status

• We do not require premiere status.

5) Expedited Feedback Option (72 Hours)

• If the feedback option is selected, the entry will be judged and the submission status will be updated from Undecided to Selected within the next 72 hours after your full submission is received.
• This is not a writing review service.
• A “full submission” means you have selected at least one main category. The feedback option is an additional add on that only applies to entries with at least one main category selected.
• Any entry submitted with the feedback option but without at least one main category will be disqualified, and no refund will be issued.
• All main categories are listed underneath the trophy and feedback option.

6) Fees, Refund Policy, and Digital Products (No Refunds)

• All fees are not refundable, including (but not limited to) submission fees, add ons, feedback options, and any trophy or shipping payments.
• No refunds are provided for any digital products or digital services, including (but not limited to) digital magazine products, magazine features, film reviews, digital downloads, and any similar digital deliverables offered by FilmmakerLife Awards or FilmmakerLife.
• FilmmakerLife Awards is not responsible for damaged copies or items during shipping or delivery.

7) Promotional Purchases and Redemption Window (12 Months)

• If a purchase was made during a promotion, discount, or special offer, the product must be claimed or redeemed within 12 months from the date of purchase.
• After 12 months, the purchase expires and cannot be claimed, and no refunds or credits will be provided.

8) Discount Codes and Trophies on FilmFreeway

• Discount codes are not valid for the purchase of trophies on FilmFreeway.
• Discount codes are valid only for submitting films to the festival.
• If a trophy is purchased on FilmFreeway using a discount code, that purchase will be canceled.
• Before purchasing trophies, we highly recommend contacting our team by email. If needed, you may be asked to cover any fee difference through an invoice.
• All payments are not refundable.

9) Official Selection, Reviews, and Competition Status

• If a project is marked “Selected,” it may be sent to review sessions as a next stage to determine whether it advances further within the edition.
• If the project does not advance at that stage, the judging status cannot be upgraded to “Nominee” for the official announcement.
• The Competition reserves the right to refuse entries, and the Jury can remove a project from the competition at any time.
• You cannot cancel your participation after the announcement of Official Selection.

10) Communication Policy

• All official communications must be through email. We cannot respond to messages through social media due to the large number of requests received.

11) Schedule Changes

• Festival dates and times may be subject to delay or change without notice. Please check our FilmFreeway page for deadlines and updates.

12) IMDb Credits

• IMDb is the only entity that can approve or reject credits or submissions on its platform. If nominees or wins are not published on IMDb, it does not depend on us. Please report issues directly to the official IMDb support community.

13) Non Discrimination Policy

• No work or artist will be discriminated against or favored due to country of origin, language, age, race, education, ideology, sexual orientation, or economic resources. Every form and technique may be considered without censorship of any kind.

14) Indemnification and Legal Responsibility

By submitting, you warrant that you are authorized to commit the film or script for possible screening (private and or public) and you understand and accept these rules. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless FilmmakerLife Awards from any claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including attorney’s fees and court costs) arising from any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss or damage of the materials entered.

15) Changes to Terms

All stated information, eligibility, submission guidelines, terms, and conditions are subject to change by the competition without notice. By submitting your film or script, you acknowledge you have read, understood, and accepted all rules, regulations, and conditions above.

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